When crime and corruption get you down …

Don’t be discouraged

Dishonesty and corruption are nothing new. The Old Testament records several passages in which God expresses his displeasure at dishonesty and corruption while the author of Proverbs strongly rebukes those with cheating hearts and lying tongues.

Don’t try to cheat people by having two sets of weights or measures, one to get more when you are buying, and the other to give less when you are selling. If you weigh and measure things honestly, the Lord your God will let you enjoy a long life in the land he is giving you. But the Lord is disgusted with anyone who cheats or is dishonest.

Deuteronomy 25:13-16

The Lord hates anyone

who cheats,

but he likes everyone

who is honest. …

But if you are crooked,

you will be trapped

by your own dishonesty.

When God is angry,

money won’t help you.

Proverbs 11:1,3b,4a

Honesty earns God’s blessing

God shows His respect for those who are honest. In fact, God commanded his people to be honest in order to receive His blessing. In Proverbs, honesty in business is linked to a rewarding life.

Obeying God is the only way to be saved from death.

Proverbs 11:4b

When justice isn’t done

When crime is not brought to book swiftly and seems to flourish, people lose their respect for the law.

When we see criminals commit crime after crime without being punished, it makes us want to start a life of crime. They commit hundreds of crimes and live to a ripe old age, in spite of the saying:

Everyone who lives right

and respects God

will prosper,

but no one who sins

and rejects God

will prosper or live very long.

There is something else that doesn’t make sense to me. Good citizens are treated as criminals, while criminals are honoured as though they were good citizens.

Ecclesiastes 8:11-14

Yet believers trust:

You will make them stumble,

never to get up again.

Psalm 73:18

Let God be your judge

As believers we are not called to conform to the world but to show the world a better way of living.

Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

Romans 12:2

Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

*Scripture verses taken from the Contemporary English Version.

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